A Call for Moral Courage

Our nation is in profound need of truth-telling and spiritual and moral courage that charts a way forward beyond the present stagnating fear. Common-sense bipartisan solutions must thread a political needle. Balancing the rule of law with rational integration policies requires a prudent, courageous statecraft that is sorely lacking in our hyper-polarized age. Elected officials need to be willing to tell the truth about the ruinous impacts of our current immigration policies on immigrants and our nation. They must seriously deal with the harmful root causes of displacement around the world through substantive foreign policy. And this must be coupled with the courage to legislate rather than engage in partisan hyperbolic rhetoric.  

One of the major hurdles is fear. Fear is a powerful emotion that often blocks legislative solutions. If Christian leaders are to form part of the solution, we cannot ignore this powerful sentiment in our collective national psyche. Fear obfuscates our ability to see and speak with each other.

The antidote is courage—courage to tell the truth about the state of our immigration system and to distinguish between arguments based on facts and those based on myths. Faith leaders need to stand up and lift the voices of immigrants and refugees. Every citizen can help listen and highlight the stories of our immigrant neighbors, coworkers, and family members. For genuine change, we need a grassroots groundswell of pastors, churches, business owners, teachers, parents, and all people of goodwill to say our nation can and must do better. Changing the immigration policy winds will require courage from many.

Our deepest fears are too often fueled by myths. The deep work of reflection, prayer, and truth-telling must precede public speech on immigration. The litany of uninformed opinions has coarsened public discourse and action. Sometimes we speak in political platitudes devoid of facts and Christian virtue. Christian public speech on immigration has too frequently come before understanding, and the damage has been considerable. Before we speak, we must seek to know and understand. Any initiatives toward bipartisan immigration reform must squarely address the myth of a culturally and racially homogenous nation.

What, then, are these fears and myths that have for so long delayed progress on immigration reform? Here are three of the most harmful myths that continue to create obstacles to more just and humane immigration policies in America, and the truths necessary to counter these nefarious narratives.

1. The National Identity Myth

Certain segments of our society fear the loss of an idealized or romanticized national identity. In Who Are We? The Challenges to America’s National Identity, political philosopher Samuel P. Huntington underscores the often unspoken sentiment that America has a homogenous identity threatened by immigration flows. Geraldo Rivera wrote about some of these fears in his book His Panic: Why Americans Fear Hispanics in the U.S.

With the exception of indigenous peoples and enslaved African people, the United States is a nation of immigrants. Any idealized depiction of a homogeneous nation is ahistorical. We cannot ignore our mixed legacy of receiving immigrants into our national mosaic. Our nation has received millions fleeing tyranny, poverty, and oppression, while also passing racialized and xenophobic laws like the Chinese Exclusion Act. Any initiatives toward bipartisan immigration reform must squarely address the myth of a culturally and racially homogenous nation.  

In response to anxieties about national cohesion, we need a clear vision that our national unity—E pluribus unum, or “out of many, one”—is not based on culture or race but a shared commitment to a diverse democratic society. Diversity enriches our democracy and reflects the Christian ethic of unity across diversity evidenced in the kingdom of God in Revelation 7:9, which says “from every nation, tribe, people, and language” (NIV).

Any law based on blind nationalism is not only idolatrous but inevitably leads to a nation’s decline. Efforts by the previous administration to seriously reduce legal immigration while refusing to reform outdated immigration are reflective of this temptation. Recent political rhetoric about “taking our country back” is a not-so-subtle allusion to an us-vs.-them mindset based on ethnocentric and idolatrous nationalism. We can and must do better.

2. The Economic Myth

Immigrants, many believe, are a burden to our economic system. For decades, this myth has served as a leitmotif in arguments against immigration reform and expanding legal immigration.  

However, studies show that the millions of immigrants already in the US are a net positive to the American economy. According to bipartisan political organization FWD.us, “Immigrants added $2 trillion to the US GDP in 2016 and $458.7 billion in state, local, and federal taxes in 2018.” In addition, immigrants are vital to creating jobs across our country. The bipartisan research firm New American Economy reports that, in 2017, 8 million people were employed at immigrant-owned businesses, which earned $1.3 trillion in revenue.

In short, immigration reform can help the economy. A new immigration system that integrates immigrants will continue to add hundreds of millions of dollars to the economy. The status quo does not address economic challenges; reform does. We can and should have the creative genius to make this a win-win for all.

It’s important to note that, as a Jesus-follower, I believe economics is not the moral arbiter of national decisions. Christianity demands hospitality, and hospitality requires sacrifice.

As Christians, we are mandated to love our neighbor as ourselves without prejudice toward origin, color, or creed. Scripture, from Abraham and Sarah to Jesus and the early church, is saturated with the narrative of immigrants and sojourners in need of hospitality. In the end, nations are judged by how they treat the most vulnerable among them. Love thy neighbor does not end at our borders. Immigration reform is a moral issue that requires us to live up to our highest biblical values. We cannot abdicate this responsibility. Love thy neighbor does not end at our borders. Immigration reform is a moral issue that requires us to live up to our highest biblical values.

In the last ten years, repeated bipartisan efforts to pass a comprehensive immigration bill have not been successful. Much of the failure is due to misunderstandings about how immigration positively impacts our nation and fears of an ever-changing demography.

As Christians, we are mandated to love our neighbor as ourselves without prejudice toward origin, color, or creed. Scripture, from Abraham and Sarah to Jesus and the early church, is saturated with the narrative of immigrants and sojourners in need of hospitality. In the end, nations are judged by how they treat the most vulnerable among them. Love thy neighbor does not end at our borders. Immigration reform is a moral issue that requires us to live up to our highest biblical values. We cannot abdicate this responsibility.

In the last ten years, repeated bipartisan efforts to pass a comprehensive immigration bill have not been successful. Much of the failure is due to misunderstandings about how immigration positively impacts our nation and fears of an ever-changing demography.
As Christians, we are mandated to love our neighbor as ourselves without prejudice toward origin, color, or creed. Scripture, from Abraham and Sarah to Jesus and the early church, is saturated with the narrative of immigrants and sojourners in need of hospitality. In the end, nations are judged by how they treat the most vulnerable among them. Love thy neighbor does not end at our borders. Immigration reform is a moral issue that requires us to live up to our highest biblical values. We cannot abdicate this responsibility.

In the last ten years, repeated bipartisan efforts to pass a comprehensive immigration bill have not been successful. Much of the failure is due to misunderstandings about how immigration positively impacts our nation and fears of an ever-changing demography.

As Christians, we are mandated to love our neighbor as ourselves without prejudice toward origin, color, or creed. Scripture, from Abraham and Sarah to Jesus and the early church, is saturated with the narrative of immigrants and sojourners in need of hospitality. In the end, nations are judged by how they treat the most vulnerable among them. Love thy neighbor does not end at our borders. Immigration reform is a moral issue that requires us to live up to our highest biblical values. We cannot abdicate this responsibility.

In the last ten years, repeated bipartisan efforts to pass a comprehensive immigration bill have not been successful. Much of the failure is due to misunderstandings about how immigration positively impacts our nation and fears of an ever-changing demography.

3. The Law-and-Order Myth

Some fear that if we reward undocumented immigrants with a path to citizenship or a restitution-based integration policy, the nation will set a dangerous precedent. Perhaps the resulting flow of immigration will overwhelm us.

Those who adhere to this belief think a more open immigration system is a threat to our national sovereignty and the rule of law. Fear of lawlessness has led to an entrenched resistance to modernizing our immigration system.

We cannot ignore the fact that broken laws hurt people. Theologian St. Augustine reminds us that “an unjust law is no law at all.” The book of Romans tells us to submit to authority (Rom. 13) but at the same time reminds us not to conform to patterns that are incongruent with our gospel values (Rom. 12).

Historically, our nation has periodically modernized its immigration systems in response to economic demands and global migration flows. Immigration reform can include requiring back-tax payments, penalties for employers who have circumvented the system, and humane border supervision.

Nevertheless, we cannot and should not ignore the nearly 11 million undocumented men, women, and children who are already here after fleeing violence, corruption, persecution, and death. Massive deportations, on the scale of the book of Exodus, are immoral and do not offer a realistic solution. In addition, both major political parties agree that, pragmatically, deportation remains beyond our economic and logistical capacities.

For me, as a Christian citizen, the question is not “What is the law?” Rather, it’s “Is that law moral and good?”Reform must include respect for the rule of law and humane integration of immigrants. We must confront the challenge of legal positivism, the belief that because a law exists, it is necessarily good. In our attempts to advocate for immigration reform, we should heed Cicero and St. Augustine’s admonitions for the pursuit of summum bonum—the highest good. We should continuously ask: What laws should we pass that treat our immigrant neighbors with dignity and respect, while dealing with the root causes that displace millions of God’s children around the world?

For me, as a Christian citizen, the question is not “What is the law?” Rather, it’s “Is that law moral and good?” Our calls for immigration reform are not, as some have caricatured, a request for no immigration laws but instead for more humane immigration laws that honor the dignity of all people.

The Path Forward

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., once asked, “Where do we go from here: chaos or community?” Despite all its challenges, immigration reform offers us an opportunity to renew our democracy. Our moral witness is elevated, our diversity is deepened, our economy benefits, and our democracy is broadened. Part of the test of our national character is reflected in how we treat immigrants.

The famous Spanish poet Antonio Machado once wrote, “Caminante, no hay camino se hace camino al andar.” Traveler, there is no path. The path is made by traveling. Machado reminds us to have the courage to not sacrifice our immigrant brothers and sisters on the altar of political expediency. We must chart a way forward on immigration beyond fear and myths. Silence and inaction are not options.